'Relax, the rocket fell on an Arab village'

On Tuesday, Hamas shot a rocket towards Jerusalem. Much to their chagrin, it only got as far the Gush Etzion area. Apparently, it also fell close to a Palestinian village.

As Voice of Israel (part of the official Israel Broadcasting Authority) reported the events, their veteran correspondent in the South, Nissim Kenan, had some, how should I say, “reassuring” words for listeners and for the anchor, Esti Perez (listen in Hebrew here):

Kenan: Let me calm everybody down here from Ashkelon. It fell in Gush Etzion. Not in Jerusalem.

Perez: Yes, but people live in Gush Etzion, too, you know.

Kenan: Yes, but it fell in an Arab village, so, we can relax.

Kenan later apologized on the air for his remarks.

But he didn’t really have to. Because I’ll bet he really did feel relaxed. And trust me, a majority of Israelis breathed a sigh of relief when they heard it, too.

You’re right, Jeff. Two wrongs actually do make a right. I’m sorry I even wrote the post now.
#give_me_a_break_yourself

Reply to Comment

rsgengland

ThursdayNovember 22, 2012

It is hoped that whoever tries to fire inaccurate projectiles into Israel , is aware of how small the country is , and the possibility of those projectiles striking their own people .
This is of course not only refering to Hamas and Hezbolla , but also Iran

Reply to Comment

sh

SaturdayNovember 24, 2012

You’ve just added a whole new dimension to the human shields thing. Bravo.

Reply to Comment

Jeff

ThursdayNovember 22, 2012

gee Ami, first you post about imaginary giggles and now you put imaginary words in my mouth. I didn’t say the remarks from Kenan ,which he apologized for, were right, I was just trying to point out the hypocrisy of your indignation. Or did I miss your post condemning those celebrations ?

Reply to Comment

sh

SaturdayNovember 24, 2012

Why should some not celebrate the prospect of a night without bombardment, Jeff? There’ll have been many others weeping over their injured, their dead and the destruction but that doesn’t make for fun pictures and mars the stereotypical reporting we enjoy so much.

Reply to Comment

Laughing Out Loud

ThursdayNovember 22, 2012

The issue, Ami, is not whether two wrongs make a right.

The issue is whether you should be criticizing your Jewish enemies for acting Human – expressing relief that the Shari’ah rocket fell on the Ummah – while at the same time supporting the most genocidal death cult to have ever existed.

You Israeli Leftists are on the side of “Palestine”, Ami. We get that. Europe pays you very handsomely for that position. So why aren’t you in the Israeli Left criticizing your OWN side? Why isn’t the Left taking their Koranic allies to task for their war crimes? Why isn’t the Left critiquing their subhuman “Palestinian” friends on the West Bank for their satanic policies?

Simply put, what right do pro-“Palestinians” have to critique Humanity? When your society’s motto is “we love death more than the Yahud loves life”, you don’t really have any right to criticize your enemies.

@jeff – why is it hypocritical to report this incident? I’m no more hypocritical than you for not mentioning any condemnation of it yourself. Let me also make one thing clear: as an Israeli, I write about my people. I feel no responsibility for Palestinian racism, I’m not going to try to change them. I can’t. I’ve never posted about it, and never will. If they don’t want to deal with it, that’s their problem.
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@laughing out loud – your comment is so ridiculous and full of wrong facts, you’re banned from my channel.

Reply to Comment

akaldev panesar

ThursdayNovember 22, 2012

the end is clear that the arab land should be given back to settle the arabs who are given the chance to live a life of beggars.the poor palestines had been hammered by all other arabs and pakistanees too.the state of israel can give more and bring them to the level of decent life like europeans in the area who come and spend money for the advancement of all peoples.

Reply to Comment

JKNoReally

ThursdayNovember 22, 2012

There’s nothing hypocritical, in a narrow sense, about criticizing Israeli society and not Palestinian society if one’s desire to better Israelis. There’s no reason why Israelis shouldn’t curb nasty elements in their society, regardless of what is happening in Palestine. The problem – which other readers don’t quite seem able to put their fingers on – is that +972 is written for the anglosphere, where opinions about foreign wars tend to boil down to simple designations of goodies and baddies. This means that simple denunciations like this piece have the effect of misinforming the relevant audience, which is mostly foreign (unless I’m mistaken), since it takes Israeli’ perspective out of context. You can’t defend this by saying you’re trying to better Israelis, because they’re not the relevant audience (unless I’m mistaken).

(also, a large portion of my/our readers are local. so rest assured, i’m reaching exactly the audience i want. on both sides of the pond)

Reply to Comment

JKNoReally

FridayNovember 23, 2012

Better Israelis by outside pressure? I don’t see how outsiders are going to change attitudes that have been inculcated by over a century of conflict. Seems more like collective demonization, especially since you’re essentially speculating. I don’t see the harm if this kind of thing directed at Israelis, but directed to the outside world it seems on par with the kind of anti-Muslim demagoguery that right-wingers claim is meant to change government policy in places like Saudi Arabia.

Reply to Comment

Nephtaly

ThursdayNovember 22, 2012

In times of conflict, the concerns of most people is with the saftey and well being of fellow citizen and countrymen. One shouldn’t be surprised when indifference is shown towards an act in which the enemy, in an attempt to terrorize Israelis, ends up striking its fellow people, Palestinians.

That aside, In your attempt to better Israelis, which you claim is your objective, you conveniently forget at times that a fifth of your fellow countrymen are Palestinian Israelis. I have yet to see any piece by you dedicated to addressing racism in this sector of the Israeli public. Are they not your people?

Reply to Comment

Poyani

ThursdayNovember 22, 2012

Here in the west we keep hearing about how Israel is a tolerant society. But judging from this article and FAR more importantly the comments attacking the author, it seems this is just a myth.

At the end of the day, if an Israeli dies, it seems that before sadness comes the question “was he/she Jewish”? If the answer is no, then no need to grieve, we can relax, no big deal.

Ha… if only you know how they would laugh at your face when calling them “palestinian israelis”…. shows how much you know about this conflict.
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never ceases to amaze me how people still use the ‘ole “but the other side is racist, too! why don’t you stuff that in your pipe n’ smoke it” claim. so pathetic. so 80’s.
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oh, by the way… if they are indeed palestinian israelis… fellow citizens, no? in your land? why giggle if they die?
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there’s no way out of it for people like you.

Nephtaly

You’ve been blocked, because behind all your smart rhetoric, you’re as fascist and racist as they come.

Reply to Comment

Myron Joshua

ThursdayNovember 22, 2012

You are right..many giggled. A friend from one of the villages called saying he saw the rocket fall about 100 meters from his house..close to a well travelled road where both Israelis and Palestinian can be found. I don’t know if one need judge “natural” human feelings of being relaxed- but one can judge not being able to go beyond those feelings. If we are always hostage to the relaxed, giggling level of “human” feelings…are we really human?

This is, of course, only a blog, and people (like me) who comment on them are generally a bit off. Even so, I must say that the corporate, reified racial categories whereby some commenters live, and would make others live, is so dense as to fracture all hope of a future.

I can’t condemn 1.7 million people to truncated livelihood to satisfy my righteous racial nationalism. I just can’t. And those who can: well, this bit off person wonders when their righteous necessity will bulldoze my elimination as well.

Reply to Comment

JKNoReally

SaturdayNovember 24, 2012

There isn’t a “secular democratic state” option on the table, so your framing of the choice doesn’t reflect reality. If The State of Israel ceased to exist, most Jews would leave and the rest would be forced to live under a regressive, anti-modern, anti-liberal regime. In any case, defending your nationalism is preferable the alternative, since Hamas and the Palestinians in general adhere to a much more agressive religious-racial nationalism. If you enjoy guilt-tripping yourself by pretending to live in an alternate reality where Palestinians don’t have to power to change their politics, that’s your choice, its not being forced upon you.

Reply to Comment

andrew r

SundayNovember 25, 2012

“If The State of Israel ceased to exist, most Jews would leave and the rest would be forced to live under a regressive, anti-modern, anti-liberal regime”

Jewish Israelis already live in a repressive, anti-liberal, anti-modern (human rights -wise) regime, it just so happens they’re the ones recruited to enforce the anti-liberalism.

Reply to Comment

JKNoReally

MondayNovember 26, 2012

Andrew R – you are very ignorant. I’m not going with you into your fantasy world.

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Ami Kaufman was chief night editor for Haaretz, for the prominent Israeli financial daily Calcalist, and correspondent on Israeli affairs for 93.6 RAM FM, a joint Palestinian-Israel radio station. His interest in food and cooking led to culinary studies at the “Israeli CIA” (Tadmor, Herzliya) and a brief stint in the restaurant business.

About +972 Magazine

+972 is an independent, blog-based web magazine. It was launched in August 2010, resulting from a merger of a number of popular English-language blogs dealing with life and politics in Israel and Palestine.

+972 is an independent, blog-based web magazine. It was launched in August 2010, resulting from a merger of a number of popular English-language blogs dealing with life and politics in Israel and Palestine.